I had a mechanic service the diesel a week or so ago. There may be some follow-up work for him as the oil pressure alarm beeped today.
After much waiting, I’ve finally found an 18-foot spinnaker pole, which I can use as a whisker pole to pole out the jib when running downwind. Because of the load it will create on the mast, I had the mast beefed up and a Forespar fitting installed. Today I was able to test this setup with good success.
I used three lines on the pole (topping lift, foreguy, afterguy), which allows me to control the jib separately from the pole. To hoist the jib, I first fed the foot through the outboard pole end, then hoisted the jib. This worked to windward and to leeward in <10 kts. The same process in reverse is used to drop the jib.
To get the mainsail to set correctly I used a jibe preventer, which allowed me to pull the boom down and the sail away from chafing on the spreaders.
No restart this year
In late August I was abruptly laid off and I considered leaving for the second attempt in October. I removed most everything from the boat and gave her a good cleaning. But then one of the companies I was interviewing for made me a good offer. I’m starting a new job in early October. I think it’ll be good as everything checks out.
All in all, maybe October 2024 will be the year, maybe with the Pacific Cup 2024 as the shake-down cruise. My adventure juices had started flowing again but it’ll be for another day.
